Jottings

The Creek word Doxa glory is used fairly frequently in various forms both of and by the Lord in John's gospel. A lexicon says that the word means, "opinion, hence esteem, applause, honour, praise given in adoration, glory." The word is derived from Dokeo, which means " to seem to one's self, to think, imagine, suppose, have in mind." Emerging from this word is the noun Dokime; "trial, proof by trial," and the verb, Dokimao; "to prove by trial, try, assay metals." Words are born, they have parents and relatives, except such interjections as O.K., Okay, which originated from the U.S., slang which has neither parents nor relatives, which is their way of saying" all right." It will be seen that Dora has both parents and relatives. Sometimes the relatives of a word form a large family, but there is the same basic character running through all.

Glory, that is, "the honour due and conferred upon anyone," is the result of the proof and assessment of the worth of the person, and of the purpose of God in the outstanding position the person is to occupy. True glory emerges from the source of glory, that is from the God of glory. If the receiving glory from men is allowed to bulk largely in the mind, that is the sure road to shut out the glory of God, even as the Lord said,

"How can ye believe, which receive glory one from another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not?" (John 5.44).

Glory is first mentioned in John's Gospel in 1.14, where the Word, the Maker of all (1.1-3), appeared in the flesh full of grace and truth. His glory was that of an only begotten Son; this is not Son of Man (which speaks of His humanity), but the Son of God (which describes His true and full Deity). This divine glory was closely veiled on earth by the veil of His flesh, and those who saw it, saw it by faith.

In John 2.11 it is said that He manifested His glory in the excellence of the sign, when He turned the water into wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. When Moses asked God in Sinai, "Show me, I pray Thee, Thy glory," God said, "I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And He said, thou canst not see My face:

for man shall not see Me and live" (Exodus 33.18, 19). God's glory is clearly seen in His goodness, in His grace and mercy. So it was in Cana when the Lord's favour overflowed, though His time had not yet come to commence His public ministry in Jerusalem, where it was also timed to end. The gospel which is called "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20.24), is also "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God" (1 Timothy 1. 11) and "the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4.4).

When Judas had gone out of the upper room, after receiving the sop, the Lord said, " Now is (was, R.V.M.) the Son of Mao glorified, and God is (was) glorified in Him" (John 13.31). This glorification is the glorification of the Son of Man in His sufferings, by which God was glorified. This is what the Lord referred to in John 17.4:

"I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do."

This glorifying of God was twofold, in His sufferings in life and in death. "I have glorified it (God's name), and will glorify it again" (John 12.28). Then the Lord continued in the upper room to say, "And God shall glorify Him in Himself, and straightway shall He glorify Him " (John 13.32). This was accomplished when He was exalted to the right hand of God and glorified with the glory He had beside God before the foundation of the world, and with all the added glory He had won by His glorious triumphs on earth. All such the Father has correctly assessed and recompensed.

Glory (Doxa) is mentioned seven times in various forms of the word by the Lord, in John 11, five times in the first five verses, and twice in verses 22, 24. That day He was about to glorify God's name by His death on the cross in a manner and measure that never had been nor could be done on earth by any other. Now He seeks to be glorified by His Father, the object of which was that still more glory should redound to the Father through Him. He never sought glory for its own sake or His own sake. He says, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee: even as Thou gavest Him authority over all flesh, that whatsoever Thou has given Him, to them He should give eternal life" (verses 1, 2). The hour is come is that hour in John 13. 1 : Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should depart out of the world unto the Father." The Father had given all things into His hands; He had all authority in heaven and on earth vested in Him. In keeping with this vast work, which He will carry out to the end, for He must reign and deal with His enemies, and bring all into subjection, He must be glorified, raised to the seat of power, even to God's throne which is His throne as well. (Psalm 110. 1 ; Hebrews 1. 8 ; 1 Corinthians 15.24-28).

In the glory of the Son, the Father will be glorified. God will be fully justified in all His ways and purposes in connexion with Creation and especially with the human family. The place of the Lord's authority, as singled out by Him in John 17.1-8, is in connexion with the gospel in giving eternal life to all whom the Father has given to Him. How comforting it is to think of the Father giving human souls to the Son, and the Son giving eternal life to such! Such transactions we had been entirely unaware of, but for divine revelation in the Scriptures. How precious is the word of God which gives us insight into His works of grace! How much more He will bring to light in the ages to come, from the truths of these very Scriptures, in which such mighty truths are unfolded, remains yet obscure to us But we may be quite certain that much more is yet to be known of God's way in grace to us.

In verses 4 and 5 we have the Lord speaking of His having glorified God by having completed the work which God gave Him to do, and seeking the return of a glory which He had with His Father before the foundation of the world, a glory of which He emptied Himself when He took the form of a Servant in incarnation (Philippians 2.6, 7).

Of the glory inherent in Deity He did not and could not empty Himself, as we learn from John 1.14; that glory He veiled when He tabernacled among men.

Then in John 17.22, 24, we have two further references to glory, That of verse 24 seems clear enough to our understanding, though the realization of what is meant by "My glory," which we are destined to see, will be something beyond that which thought can conceive or words can describe now.

It will be our pleasure and delight to see Him thus when we are with Him. But what of the glory of verse 22 ? This is not future but present. "The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me." May I illustrate what I understand is meant here? It will be remembered that the vessels of the tabernacle were of gold or covered with gold. The gold mercy seat speaks of Christ, as also does the gold covered ark. Gold speaks of divine glory. The same gold covered the boards of the tabernacle which I take to signify men standing in testimony for God. So here we see the answer to the gold-covered boards of old. As the boards were united into one by sockets and bars, all glowing with the beauty of the gold which covered them, we may think of the beauty of the Lord being on His people (Psalm 90.17) as they stand as one in unity.